Family ties send Beals to Lipscomb

By JOHN VERSER
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW May 06, 2008 04:46 pm

— Catherine Beals is carrying on a family tradition.
The Barren County track and cross country performer signed a National Letter of Intent with Lipscomb University on Monday morning in front of family and friends at the BCHS library.
One of the big reasons Beals chose the Nashville, Tenn., school was because of family ties.
“My mom had a real influence on me. She graduated from Lipscomb,” Beals said. “And my dad also went there for a period of time. That was really neat, I just had the family background there, and once I stepped on campus, I knew I wanted to be there.”
Beals has excelled in long distance running for the Trojanettes since the sixth grade, when she joined the cross country team. She ran in the state cross country meet each of the last six years. Her best finish came in her junior year when she finished 70th with a time of 20:57.91. After battling injuries during her senior season in cross country, Beals battled back to finish the state meet in 21:44.87.
“I think one of the big advantages that Catherine has is that she was always focused,” Barren County girls cross country coach Terry Reed said. “There’s so many distractions in today’s world, she just stayed focused. If you stay focused, you can gradually keep building each year and let each year make you a better runner and a better person.”
In addition to cross country, Beals has also excelled in track. She has participated in each of the last three Class AAA state track and field meets in the 1600 meter run and the 4 x 800 meter relay. She was also in the 4 x 400 meter relay last year.
Beals’ best finish in the 1600 meter run came last year, when she took 12th in the state with a time of 5:36.73. That shaved just over 20 seconds off her time in the 1600 in 2006.
“This actually probably started when she was in the sixth grade,” Reed said. “She ran cross country. She was always one of those young ladies that was always very energetic. As she got older and got more mature, she became a leader.
“I think the most common thing that you can say about her is the common denominator that you’d like to see in all athletes, that she is a leader. She just provided an excellent example for other runners and other students. Not only does she provide an example to our athletes, she does in the classroom too.”
Beals picked Lipscomb over Centre College in Danville.
“I never thought that I would ever be capable of signing with a Division I school or anything,” Beals said. “I thought, maybe, like Division III, or something, but never Division I.”

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